Briatore: It will be strange to see Hamilton at Ferrari

Everyone -including Flavio Briatore - is weighing in, speculating whether Hamilton to the Scuderia is the right move or not. From the outset it was, Ferrari shares shot up when on 1 February, after two decades with Mercedes (all his poles, wins, and titles were Merc-powered), the 40-year-old (on 7 January) will don the red of Ferrari.

But now reality is upon us, as soon Hamilton will be measured up against Charles Leclerc, Ferrari's chosen one and the driver who put an end to Sebastian Vettel's career by simply outperforming the German. Will the same happen with Hamilton?

In fact, Alpine F1 boss Briatore—not shy to stir the pot, more so now that he is back in F1's pool of piranhas—questioned the wisdom of ditching well-performing Carlos Sainz for Hamilton: “It will be strange to see Lewis at Ferrari.

"Of course, I respect these decisions, but I also wonder if it makes sense. Ferrari had two top drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. I don’t understand why they split up this great pair. It’s not my job to judge, but if I were in a responsible position at Ferrari, I wouldn’t have hired Lewis.

"In principle, it’s good for Formula 1 if Lewis drives for Ferrari. And everything that’s good for Formula 1 is good for me too. It’s definitely good for television and also for ratings. Let’s wait and see. Time will tell how well Ferrari performs," added Briatore.

One F1 veteran who sees good things in his 'crystal ball' is Juan Pablo Montoya, who predicts: “I think we’ll see the Lewis of old. He's going to be out for revenge to prove everybody wrong and show everybody they were wrong about him. If everything lines up, I think Lewis can be a huge threat for a championship.

“If Ferrari really wants to succeed, they really need to listen to what Lewis needs and build a car around him that Lewis wants," ventured Montoya, advising Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur to consider.

While dates remain to be confirmed, speculation is that Hamilton will only get to test for Ferrari on the 21st or 22nd of January, a moment the seven-time F1 World Champion wants to savour. He told reporters after Abu Dhabi: "I want to experience my first day at Ferrari as a special moment, in Maranello, away from the public eye."

Hamilton will test officially as a Ferrari driver during official F1 testing from 26 to 28 February at Bahrain International Circuit. Before that, all eyes will be on London's O2 Arena on Tuesday, 18 February 2025, for the 2025 season livery launch, where Sir Lewis will be presented by Ferrari.